Friday, January 29, 2010

So the weather here is really really really poopy (poopy being a technical term). We have cold, wind, snow & ice & well non of those make for fun outdoor runs & we both love our outdoor runs. SO Wednesday night we were forced inside. Now our gym here on base is pretty nice, lots of machines all with individual TVs ... they do take care of us but there are certain times of the day when the gym should be avoided, that time being when Hannah who decided she "needed" to go & get a big girl job because bar tending at chili's wasn't the career path she had in mind (so inconsiderate) finishes work.

So the decision was made to do our 6 miles inside Wednesday night but the only available machines were the elliptical. I think with a little pushing Hannah could have politely removed a couple of individuals from their tread mills (especially the fat old dude walking in the corner) but no we made it through 6 miles of a cross between running & stepping. Plus side being we didn't freeze to death & it gave my poor abused knees a day off. Plus cross training is something neither of us enjoys so being forced to do it occasionally isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Yesterday was 3 mile day again ... so having found that i can handle 30 minutes on the tread mill (this time with good ol' Dr Phil for company) i made it through my 3 mile run in a little under 10 minute mile pace, happy, warm & a little sweater. I feel i should inform you all here that i am one of those lucky individuals who turns a bright tomato red when i run ... it doesn't matter the time of the year, or how far & even after I've showered my face is still all kinds of "flushed".

& so thanks to the weather & our wonderful hubby's work schedules (these are the times when being a military wife sucks ass) we are trying to fit a long run in somewhere over the next few days & hopefully the predicted storm will disappear & spring suddenly pop up from nowhere. Before you know it we will be running through fields of brightly coloured flowers & joyful lambs ... OK possible a little exaggeration but it would be nice to run without wearing 20 layers of clothing!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Laura and I ran three miles in each other’s shoes today. I’m a treadmill girl when it comes to short distances, and she has an aversion to them. However, due to circumstances outside of our control, Laura was forced inside, while I was forced out. If you read her blog today then you know that the area was experiencing icy weather that is extremely rare here in Germany. So the powers that be, the ones with many ribbons and medals and buttons, shut down the bases and people were not working, everyone except me of course. I work at a bank. I think it’s pretty self explanatory as to why I was still working. By the time I got out of there, the gyms were long closed down and the base looked like a ghost town. So what does a girl do?

Side note to all you Missouri people: icy weather?? What icy weather?? If there are no power lines lying across the road, or at least 5 cars in the ditch, or dead cows frozen stiff in the fields, then seriously the roads are fine.

I drove home, threw on a sweatshirt, gloves, and a hat, grabbed the dog and went outside for my run. There was very little ice, but we do have a lot of snow. Well, let me clarify, if you are a Missourian, then we have a lot of snow. We don’t do snow.

Snow running is a challenge. I realized about 15 minutes in that I was fat person running, twisting my body from side to side and keeping my arms bent high and close to my chest to get momentum. I gained greater empathy for the fat runner tonite.

But it was a good run, I pushed myself moderately hard. I saw stuck-in-the-80’s German neighbor guy out with his dog, and said “Hallo!!” Then came across a murder scene a few minutes later. Don’t know what happened, or who died, but there was blood splattered all over the trail. And Baxter had to stop to eat it and roll around in it, slowing my pace. Good thing there were no dead cows around.

I don’t know exactly how far I ran because I have never run by distance, only time. But I ran 33 minutes. In the snow. Up and down some hills. My legs hurt. I’m guessing that means I’m good to go. I am now eating mint chocolate chip brownie ice cream out of the carton. i figure i run like a fat person so what the hell.

Today was 3 mile day ... running at 5k pace, so I'm aiming for 10 minute miles. Maybe nothing for some but since average 11 minute to 11.5 minute miles it's a push. Me & Hannah have debated the pros & the cons of the treadmill especially on this one because it can force you to speed up, the down side is slowing down in much easier & for me i hate being constantly aware of the time I've been running & i get bored. So i still try to run outside & have found a 3.25 mile loop that works for me.

Well i get up to run before work ... on making it out to my car i then spent a god 10 minutes scraping ice of my windshield. No joke that stuff wasn't budging. It felt like i was chipping away as the layer was like a quarter of an inch thick, i should have figured then that something was up but hey there are times when I'm not the smartest cookie in the jar. This being one of those. But i make it to base & the gym safe & sound & get my self ready to my run.

Well it became apparent pretty quickly outside wasn't happening ... the parking lot was like a skating rink & the pavement's hadn't been salted (someone told me we have a salt shortest in Europe ... & America isn't shipping salt over here) so to the treadmills i went. & I'm not gonna lie i hated running on the treadmill but i did push myself. I know that for me starting slow is the best move & i can speed up as the time goes on. So having settled on "the view" for my "distraction" i started at 5.5 miles an hour & gradually sped up until i made it through my 3 miles in 29 point something minutes. faster than 10 minute miles. Oh & somewhere in the midst of all this the base closed so at least i got my run in whilst i was still able to get on base!

So Hannah maybe just maybe on this won i will give you that the treadmill could be better for our short runs but i can't do it every day!

So the story begins with two military wives who have the crazy idea to run a marathon together before one of them PCS's back the states. Now whilst we have been running on & off for a year, the actual decision to run a marathon was made in December & we chose Vienna in April. So that gave us a whole 3 months to get from running an average of 5 miles 4 times a week, through the wonderful winter months in Germany & my cold that would not disappear. & then 3 weeks ago we set out on a training plan, starting on week 5 or something & that brings us to Go Fish Go.

We are running this marathon for Fisher House. Aaaaaah i hear you say ... the name is not quite as obscure (though it is obscure but that's the way we like it) as it seems. The Fisher House Foundation provides lodging facilities for members of the military, veterans & their families close to Military hospitals around the world.

So are big plan ... to keep you updated on our training, donations & all other efforts & of course let you know how things go in the end. There will be photos along the way, more information on what you can do to help Fisher House & of course world changing insights from us. Oh & the us ... I'm Laura & the other one is Hannah & we are Go Fish Go!